Chopper for meat and other foods

ABSTRACT

An improved apparatus particularly for grinding or chopping food products, such as meat, coffee and the like. The apparatus includes a vertically extending receptacle open at its upper end for permitting material to be deposited therein. A rotatable knife assembly is disposed within the receptacle and cooperates with a replaceable control ring which surrounds the knife assembly for defining a narrow annular flow passage therebetween. The width of the flow passage can be varied by using different control rings to permit variation in the size of the ground or crushed material. The knife assembly has pushing blades extending downwardly therefrom for permitting the crushed material to be pushed into a discharge chute. In a variation of the invention, a double knife assembly can be utilized for permitting grinding or chopping in two separate stages.

United States Patent [1 1 Berland et al.

[ 1 CHOPPER FOR MEAT AND OTHER FOODS [76] Inventors: Abram Berland; Moises Berland,

both of Rua Barra do Tibagi, 258-Bom Retiro, Sao Paulo, Brazil [22] Filed: Apr. 5, 1971 [21] Appl. No.2 131,127

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 6, 1970 Brazil 218,032

[52] US. Cl. 241/186 R, 241/188 R [51] Int. Cl. 1302c 18/02 [58} Field of Search 146/192; 241/46 B,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,369,583 2/1968 Schnell 146/192 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 239,168 2/1961 Australia 146/192 mitm [ June 12, 1973 Primary Examiner-Gil Weidenfeld Attorney-Woodhams, Blanchard and Flynn [57] ABSTRACT An improved apparatus particularly for grinding or chopping food products, such as meat, coffee and the like. The apparatus includes a vertically extending receptacle open at its upper end for permitting material to be deposited therein. A rotatable knife assembly is disposed within the receptacle and cooperates with a replaceable control ring which surrounds the knife as sembly for defining a narrow annular flow passage therebetween. The width of the flow passage can be varied by using different control rings to permit variation in the size of the ground or crushed material. The knife assembly has pushing blades extending downwardly therefrom for permitting the crushed material to'be pushed into a discharge chute. In a variation of the invention, a double knife assembly can be utilized for permitting grinding or chopping in two separate stages. I

12 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures Patented June 12, 1973 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 AfMF/V Patented June 12, 1973 3,738,585

9 Sheets-Sheet '7 INVENTORS 45/64/14 BAPZA/VD 4/0/6255 B FPZ/M/D Maw?? Patented June 12, 1973 3,738,585

9 Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTORS 466444 55 214/140 440/56? 15! PHI/V0 CHOPPER FOR MEAT AND OTHER FOODS FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improved apparatus for grinding, cutting or chopping materials, particularly food products such as meat, coffee and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION have not permitted the grade or size of the chopped I material to be easily changed, while at the same time enabling the apparatus to operate efficiently and at high speed while utilizing relatively little power.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus particularly designed to facilitate-and improve the chopping or cutting of food products, such as meat, coffee and the like.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, wherein the food is cut or chopped by knives which rotate at high speed, thereby eliminating squeezing of the meat being cut and thus preserving its original quality.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, which operates with minimum friction and permits utilization of minimum power, and which additionally permits easy changing of the chopping grade to permit the size of the chopped material to be easily selectively varied.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, which permits chopping of meat and other food products and additionally allows chopping of coffee and other grains by simply changing the knife assembly.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus, as aforesaid, which is capable of cutting or chopping large quantities of food products, and which is capable of chopping the food products in two successive stages to enable still greater quantities of food products to be prepared.

These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with devices of this type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a central, sectional, elevational view of a chopping apparatus constructed according to the pres ent invention, as taken substantially along the line II of FIG. 2.

.FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view as taken substantially from the right side of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the chopper apparatus when oriented in the same position illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a sectional elevational view taken substantially along the line VV of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a top view ofa knife set for cutting meat and other food products.

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the knife set illustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a top view ofa modified knife set for cutting coffee and other grains.

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the knife set illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the knife set appearing in FIGS. 7 or 9.

FIG. 11 is a top view of the motorized base.

FIG. 12 is a central, sectional, elevational view of a modified chopping apparatus having two chopping stages for handling larger quantities of food products.

FIG. 13 is a top view of the cleaning ring utilized in the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 12.

FIG. 14 is a central, sectional, elevational view of the ring illustrated in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a top view of the spacer ring utilized in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 12.

FIG. 16 is a central, sectional, elevational view of the ring illustrated in FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a top view of the conical sleeve utilized in the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 12.

FIG. 18 is a central, sectional, elevational view of the sleeve illustrated in FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a top view of the intermediate mounting ring utilized in the embodiments disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 12.

FIG. 20 is a central, sectional, elevational view of the ring illustrated in FIG. 19.

Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only. The words upwardly", downwardly, rightwardly and leftwardly will designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words inwardly and outwardly will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric: center of the device and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates there in a chopper constructed according to the present invention. The chopper includes a receptacle A which defines an interior cavity or chamber into which is deposited the material or food to be chopped. The receptacle A is fixedly connected to a receptacle base B, which in turn is removably but fixedly interconnected to a motorized support base C.

The receptacle A specifically includes an upper cy lindrical portion 5 and a lower cylindrical portion 6 disposed outwardly of the upper portion 5 and interconnected thereto by a radially extending annular flange 62. The receptacle has an upper end wall containing a hole or opening 4 for permitting material to be deposited into the receptacle.

The receptacle A is adapted to be seated within the upwardly directed, substantially cup-shaped cover plate 3 which comprises a portion of the receptacle base B. The receptacle A is connected to the receptacle base B by a diametrically opposed pair of threaded fastening devices (FIG. I), each of which includes a cylindrical spacer 43 seated on the plate 3 and fixedly connected thereto by a screw 8 which extends through a small hole 53 formed in the plate 3. The spacer 43 has an upwardly projecting threaded portion 42 which is threadably engaged within a cylindrical nut 41 which projects through a suitable opening formed in the flange 62. The exposed upper end of the nut 41 is in turn fixedly connected to a gripping knob 1 by a transverse pin 24. A washer 7, which may be resilient, is preferably provided between the knob 1 and the flange 62, and a further washer 9, which may also be resilient, is preferably provided between the head of the screw 8 and the plate 3. The gripping knob 1 may be provided with a suitable hole 10 to permit insertion of a pin or other tool therein to facilitate manual turning of the knob 10. Rotation of the knob 10 causes the nut 41 to be rotatably screwed onto the screw portion 42, which in turn causes the receptacle A to be pressed tightly into engagement with the plate portion 3, whereby the plate 3 thus constitutes the bottom wall of the receptacle chamber.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of ring members are seated on-the cylindrical spacers 43 and are disposed substantially adjacent the lower end of the upper cylindrical portion 5 of the receptacle. Particularly, a securing ring 46 is seated on the upper end of the cylin drical spacers 43 and has suitable openingsthrough which extend the threaded portions 42. Securing ring 46 is also supported on a further pair of diametrically opposed rods 43a (FIG. 5), being connected thereto by screws 51. A control ring 45 is disposed directly above the ring 46 and also has openings through which extend the threaded portions 42. The control ring 45 has an elongated annular hub portion 67 adjacent its inner periphery which extends axially into and through the opening formed in the lower ring 46. A further ring 44 is disposed directly above the control ring 45 and also has suitable openings for permitting the threaded portions 42 to extend therethrough. The ring 44 has a projection or tongue 55 extending radially inwardly therefrom for a purpose to be explained hereinafter.

The base plate 3 of the receptacle base B has a center hole 52 therethrough and a bearing sleeve 30 is disposed within the hole 52 and is fixedly secured to the receptacle base B. The sleeve 30 has a radially extending flange 31 which is adapted to be disposed in engagement with the upper side of the base plate 3, whereas the lower portion of the sleeve 30 is threaded and has a suitable nut 23 disposed thereon, which nut coacts with a packing washer 28 for fixedly connecting the sleeve 30 to the base plate 3. The sleeve 30 rotatably supports a shaft 27 which has a reduced threaded portion 19 at its lower end on which is disposed a drive sleeve 20. Sleeve 20 has suitable radial projections or wings 21 for enabling same to be releasably but drivingly connected to the motorized support base C. A washer 22 is disposed between the sleeve 20 and the lower end of the bushing 30.

The upper end of the shaft 27 has a threaded opening in which is disposed a threaded shaft 32, which shaft 32 has a hub portion 34 fixedly connected thereto. The hub, portion 34 is spaced from the upper end of the bushing by means of an intermediate washer 33.

The shaft hub 34 is fixedly connected to and supports thereon an annular plate or disk 38 which comprises a part of the knife assembly. The base plate 38 is fixedly connected to the center portion of a knife member 40 by means of suitable connecting members, such as rivets 39 or the like. The knife member 40 has a plurality of upwardly extending blades 40' fixedly connected to the periphery thereof at a plurality of circumferentially spaced locations. The blades 40', as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 7, are inclined upwardly and outwardly and at least some of the blades 40' are provided with a slightly different slope so as to rotatably travel through slightly different paths.

The knife assembly is also provided with a pair of downwardly extending pushing blades or shovels 36 and 37 on diametrically opposite sides of the base plate 38. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the blade 36 is disposed closely adjacent the outer periphery of the disk 38, whereas the blade 37 is disposed radially inwardly from the periphery of the disk 38 so as to traverse a path which is concentric with but spaced radially inwardly from the path traversed by the blade 36. Further, the blade 37 preferably projects axially downwardly to a further extend that the blade 36.

The receptacle base B, as illustrated in FIG. 5, has a tubular outlet chute 2 which is fixedly connected to and extends downwardly from the plate portion 3. The chute is inclined in a downward and outward direction and, at its upper end, communicates with the lower interior end of the receptacle A. The lower end of the chute 2 is provided with a suitable discharge opening 16 for permitting external discharge of the chopped material.

The receptacle base B has an annular skirt or flange portion 17 which extends axially downwardly from the base plate 3. The skirt 17 has a plurality of circumferentially spaced cylindrical re-entrances 29 formed on the internal wall thereof, which cylindrical re-entrances 29 are designed to cooperate with suitable cylindrical projections 50 which extend upwardly from the upper end of the motorized support base C for permitting the receptacle base B to be removably but nonrotatably seated on the support base C.

The lower portion of the annular skirt 17 has a pair of projections 14 radially extending outwardly therefrom on diametrically opposite sides thereof. The projections 14 rotatably support suitable fastening devices for enabling the receptacle base B to be fixedly connected to the motorized support base C. Each projection 14 has an opening extending axially therethrough in which is rotatably supported a cylinder 26, which cylinder is fixedly connected to a suitable cylindrical grip member 1 1 by a radially extending pin 25. The grip member 11 can be provided with a suitable hole or opening 13 therein to enable reception of a pin or tool for permitting manual rotation of the grip member 11 and the cylinder 26. A suitable washer or packing ring 12 is preferably provided between the grip member 11 and the projection 14. The lower end of the cylinder 26 preferably has a radially extending annular flange 18 thereon, from which projects downwardly an integral threaded portion 15 of reduced diameter. The threaded portions 15 are adapted to be rotatably threadedly engaged within suitable threaded openings 47 formed in the upper end of the housing 48 of the base C.

The base C has an opening 49 formed in the upper wall through which extends the drive shaft 63 of a suitable drive motor 64 housed within the housing 48. The drive shaft 63 has a suitable driving sleeve 56 nonrotatably secured thereto, which sleeve 56 has radially extending slots 56A formed in one axial end thereof for enabling said driving sleeve to'be releasably but drivingly connected to the drive sleeve 20 mounted on the lower end of the shaft 27.

OPERATION When the chopper is to be used for chopping materials, such as meat or other similar food products, the blade assembly 40 is fixedly secured to the upper end of the drive shaft 27 and the receptacle A is fixedly secured to the receptacle base B by threadably screwing the cylindrical nut 41 onto the threaded studs 42. Similarly, receptacle base B is seated on the motorized base C by causing the projections 50 to extend into the cylindrical re -entrances 29, while at the sametime the wings 21 on the drive sleeve extend into the slots 56A formedin the driving sleeve 56. The grip members 11 are then rotated to cause the threaded studs 15 to engage the threaded openings 47 formed in the base housing 48, the cylinders 26 being rotated until the flanges 18 abut the top wall of the housing 48, thereby insuring that the receptacle base B is snugly secured to the base C. Energization of the motor 64 then causes rotation of the knife assembly 40, which in turn thus causes a chopping or grinding of the material deposited into the receptacle A.

The material is first introduced through the opening 4 whereupon it falls onto the knife assembly and onto the knife support plate 38, which members are rotating at high speed. Centrifugal force then causes the material to be forced radially outwardly into contact with the rotating knife blades .40 causing the material to becut, chopped or ground by the blades. Since the blades 40" are provided with different slopes or inclinations, the material as it moves radially outwardly on the disk 38 is successively cut by the various blades 40 which thus results in a more efficient and uniform chopping of the material. The chopped material is then forced radially outwardly and passes through the annular flow control passage a which exists between the periphery of the knife support disk 38 and the lower axial end of the control ring 45. The chopped material then falls onto the upper surface of the base plate 3 whereupon the shovels 36and 37 cause the material to be carried around the base plate 3 and deposited into the inclined chute 2.The material then slides through the chute 2 and is discharged through the outlet opening 16.

The tongue55 as provided on the ring 44 extends inwardly toward the blades 40 and is disposed sufficiently close to the rotating blades to knock off or dislodge any pieces or particles of material which become caught on the blades 40.

If it should be desired to vary the size or grade of the crushed or chopped material, then this can be done by substituting a different control ring having an axial hub 67 of a different axial length so that the axial spacing between the ring 45 and the disk 38 will be different, which thus varies the width of the flow discharge passage a and accordingly results in the size or grade of the ground particles being different.

Further, if the chopper is to be utilized for grinding coffee or other similar grains, then the knife assembly 40 is preferably replaced with the knife assembly 54 illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. The knife assembly illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9 preferably includes upper and lower knife members 65 and 66 which are fixedly interconnected to and spaced from one another by means of interconnecting pins or rivets 39. The upper blade 65 has diametrically opposite, radially extending sawtooth blades which are of shorter length than similar saw-tooth blades formed on the lower blade member 66. Further, the lower plate member 66, in the illustrated embodiment, has four circumferentially spaced saw-toothblades extending radially therefrom.

MODIFICATION FIG. 12 illustratesthereina chopper capable of performing a two-stage chopping or cutting operation to permit the handling of greater quantities of material. The chopper illustratedin FIG. 12 utilizes thereinsubstantially allof the same components illustratedin FIG. 1 and thus they have been designated by the same reference numerals. However, the chopper of FIG. 12 is provided with additional components disposed between the receptacle and the receptacle base so as to provide a second chopping stage.

In the chopper illustrated in FIG. 12, the receptacle is provided with a longer lower skirt portion 6 and the knife set 40and'its cooperating support disk 38 is again disposed adjacent the lower portion of the skirt portion 6 with the disk 38 being disposed closely adjacent the lower edge of the hub of the control ring 45 to define the flow control passage a therebetween. However, in this embodiment, the control ring 44 having the tongue 55 thereon is not positioned directly adjacent the lower end of the upper cylindrical portion 5, but rather is spaced downwardly a substantial distance from the upper receptacle portion 5. An intermediate conical ring 60 is seated on the ring 44 and extends toward the upper receptacle portion 5. The conical ring 60 has a further control ring 45 seated on the upper end thereof, and a further ring 44' having a tongue 55' thereon is seated on top of the control ring 45". The ring 44' is disposed directly adjacent the lower end of the receptacle portion 5. The conical ring 60 is providedwith elongated recesses 61 therein and suitable elongated extensions 43' which are integral with the cy lindrical spacers 43 extend through the recesses 61 and through suitable openings in the rings 44' and 45", with the threaded portions 42 formed on the ends thereof coacting with the cylindrical nuts 41.

A second knife assembly is disposed upwardly from i the lowermost knife assembly and includes an annular knife support disk 59 having threaded hub, 58 fixedly secured to the lower side thereof, which hub is threadably engaged with an intermediate drive shaft 57 which extends between the upper and lower knifeassemblies. The lower end of the shaft 57 is fixedly secured to the lowermost knife assembly, as by being threadably engaged'within the hub 34. The upper knife support disk 59 also has a knife member 40A secured thereto, which knife member 40A can be identical to the lower knife member 40.

The knife support disk 59 is spaced a small distance from the control ring 45' to define an annular flow con trol passage b therebetween. The width of the passage b is, in the two stage chopper of FIG. 12, greater than the width of the lower flow passage a so that the mate rial will first be crushed or chopped by the upper knife member 40A and will flow through the passage b, thereby resulting in a rather coarse crushing or chopping of the material. The material then falls onto the second or lower knife member 40 and is further crushed and then flows through the control passage 0, which being smaller than the passage b, results in a finer grinding or crushing of the material. When the material falls through the passage b, the convergent conical wall of the ring 60 causes the material to be thrown inwardly onto the lower blade 40 to permit the second crushing operation to be performed.

The remainder of the structure and operation of the chopper illustrated in FIG. 12 is identical to the chopper of FIG. 1 and thus further description thereof is not believed necessary. However, it should be noted that the control hub 67' of the control ring 45' is axially I shorter than the control hub 65 of the control ring 45.

This difference in the length of the hubs 67' and 67 results in the control passage b having a width greater than the width of the control passage a.

The chopping device of the present invention, whether utilizing the single or double stage embodiment, thus results in the following advantages:

1. Grinding is more efficient since the cutting is done with knives running at high rotational speed.

2. Grinding is done without the necessity of squeezing the meat or other food, thus preserving its original characteristics.

3. Little, if any, friction exists between the material to be ground and the moving blade surfaces, and thus very little power is required to operate the chopper.

4. Sinews present in the meat do not effect the cutting or chopping since they are easily cut by the thrust of the knives due to the high rotational speed.

5. Samll motor power can be utilized by virtue of the high velocity and almost absence of friction.

6. The chopper is desirably compact even when utilizing the two-stage high production variation.

7. The grinding grade can be easily varied merely by changing the flow passage between the control ring 45 and the knife base 38.

8. The present chopper is readily adaptable for grinding coffee and other grains by substituting the knife assembly 54 of FIG. 8 for the knife assembly 40 of FIG. 6.

9. Grinding in two steps or stages is possible, thus allowing the chopper to be utilized in situations'where great quantities of material must be ground, as in butcher shops.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An improved chopping apparatus, comprising: receptacle means including a tubular receptacle member and a support member for supporting said receptacle member, and connecting means coacting between said receptacle member and said support member for fixedly but releasably connecting said receptacle member to said support member;

base means for supporting said support member, said base means including motor means associated therewith, and securing means coacting between said support member and said base means for fixedly but releasably securing said support member to said base means;

said support member having an upper wall portion disposed for coaction with the lower end of said receptacle member for closing same and defining within said receptacle a material receiving chamber;

said support member further having means associated therewith and defining a material discharge passage having one end thereof in communication with the lower end of said chamber, the other end of said passage opening externally of said support member for permitting external discharge of the ground or chopped material;

blade means rotatably disposed within said chamber adjacent the lower end thereof for chopping material deposited in said chamber, said blade means being spaced upwardly from said wall portion and including a drive shaft rotatably supported on and connected to said support member;

said blade means including a rotatable annular support disk spaced upwardly a predetermined distance from said wall portion and a plurality of blade members fixedly secured to and positioned above said disk, and an annular control ring fixedly secured relative to said receptacle member and disposed closely adjacent to and in surrounding relationship to said support disk for defining a narrow annular flow passage therebetween, said passage controlling the coarseness of the material being chopped or ground; and

releasable drive coupling means coacting between said drive shaft and said motor means for permitting rotation of said blade means.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blade means further includes pushing members fixedly secured to and projecting downwardly from said support disk for pushing the chopped material into said discharge passage.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, further including means fixedly secured relative to said receptacle member and disposed for dislodging material caught on said blade members, said last-mentioned means including a projection extending radially inwardly into said chamber and disposed adjacent but slightly spaced from said rotating blade members.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blade means includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced blades which extend upwardly and outwardly relative to said support disk, at least some of said blades having different slopes with respect to said disk so as to travel through different annular cutting paths.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blade means includes at least two vertically spaced knife members having radially extending saw-like teeth thereon.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said support member includes an annular skirt portion extending downwardly from said wall portion, said skirt portion defining cylindrical-like, downwardly opening recess means, and said base means having a plurality of cylindrical projections extending upwardly therefrom and adapted to be snugly received within said recess means.

7. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said connecting means includes cylindrical spacers fixedly secured to and extending upwardly from said wall portion with said spacers having upwardly projecting threaded screw portions, and rotatable nut means mounted on said receptacle member and disposed for coaction with said threaded screw portions.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said control ring has openings therethrough whereby said screw portions extend therethrough so that said control ring is seated on said cylindrical spacers, and including a further ring seated on said spacers and having openings through which said screw portions extend, said further ring being disposed directly above said control ring and having a radial projection extending outwardly into said chamber and disposed closely adjacent said rotating blade members for dislodging material therefrom.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said securing means includes manual screw members retained but rotatably supported on said support member, said screw members having downwardly extending threaded portions adapted to be threadedly engaged within threaded apertures formed in said base means.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, further including second blade means disposed within said chamber axially between said first-mentioned blade means and said wall portion for performing a further grinding operation on the material which has already passed through said first blade means, said first-mentioned and said second blade means being fixedly connected for concurrent rotation about a common vertical axis.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, further inrow annular flow control passage therebetween; and

said second blade means including a second rotatable annular disk having a plurality of blades fixedly secured thereto and extending thereabove, and'a second annular control ring disposed adjacent and in surrounding relationship to said second disk for defining a second annular flow control passage therebetween, said second annular passage having a width less than said first passage. 

1. An improved chopping apparatus, comprising: receptacle means including a tubular receptacle member and a support member for supporting said receptacle member, and connecting means coacting between said receptacle member and said support member for fixedly but releasably connecting said receptacle member to said support member; base means for supporting said support member, said base means including motor means associated therewith, and securing means coacting between said support member and said base means for fixedly but releasably securing said support member to said base means; said support member having an upper wall portion disposed for coaction with the lower end of said receptacle member for closing same and defining within said receptacle a material receiving chamber; said support member further having means associated therewith and defining a material discharge passage having one end thereof in communication with the lower end of said chamber, the other end of said passage opening externally of said support member for permitting external discharge of the ground or chopped material; blade means rotatably disposed within said chamber adjacent the lower end thereof for chopping material deposited in said chamber, said blade means being spaced upwardly from said wall portion and including a drive shaft rotatably supported on and connected to said support member; said blade means including a rotatable annular support disk spaced upwardly a predetermined distance from said wall portion and a plurality of blade members fixedly secured to and positioned above said disk, and an annular control ring fixedly secured relative to said receptacle member and disposed closely adjacent to and in surrounding relationship to said support disk for defining a narrow annular flow passage therebetween, said passage controlling the coarseness of the material being chopped or ground; and releasable drive coupling means coacting between said drive shaft and said motor means for permitting rotation of said blade means.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blade means further includes pushing members fixedly secured to and projecting downwardly from said support disk for pushing the chopped material into said discharge passage.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2, further including means fixedly secured relative to said receptacle member and disposed for dislodging material caught on said blade members, said last-mentioned means including a projection extending radially inwardly into said chamber and disposed adjacent but slightly spaced from said rotating blade members.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blade means includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced blades which extend upwardly and outwardly relative to said support disk, at least some of said blades having different slopes with respect to said disk so as to travel through different annular cutting paths.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blade means includes at least two vertically spaced knife members having radially extending saw-like teeth thereon.
 6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said support member includes an annular skirt portion extending downwardly from said wall portion, said skirt portion defining cylindrical-like, downwardly opening recess means, and said base means having a plurality of cylindrical projections extending upwardly therefrom and adapted to be snugly received within said recess means.
 7. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said connecting means includes cylindrical spacers fixedly secured to and extending upwardly from said wall portion with said spacers having upwardly projecting threaded screw portions, and rotatable nut means mounted on said receptacle member and disposed for coaction with said threadeD screw portions.
 8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said control ring has openings therethrough whereby said screw portions extend therethrough so that said control ring is seated on said cylindrical spacers, and including a further ring seated on said spacers and having openings through which said screw portions extend, said further ring being disposed directly above said control ring and having a radial projection extending outwardly into said chamber and disposed closely adjacent said rotating blade members for dislodging material therefrom.
 9. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said securing means includes manual screw members retained but rotatably supported on said support member, said screw members having downwardly extending threaded portions adapted to be threadedly engaged within threaded apertures formed in said base means.
 10. An apparatus according to claim 1, further including second blade means disposed within said chamber axially between said first-mentioned blade means and said wall portion for performing a further grinding operation on the material which has already passed through said first blade means, said first-mentioned and said second blade means being fixedly connected for concurrent rotation about a common vertical axis.
 11. An apparatus according to claim 10, further including internal conical wall means disposed in the axial space between said first and second blade means, said internal conical wall means converging toward said second blade means for causing the material discharged from said first blade means to be thrown inwardly onto said second blade means.
 12. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein mentioned blade means includes a first rotatable annular disk having a plurality of blades disposed thereabove and a first flow control ring disposed adjacent and surrounding said first disk for defining a first narrow annular flow control passage therebetween; and said second blade means including a second rotatable annular disk having a plurality of blades fixedly secured thereto and extending thereabove, and a second annular control ring disposed adjacent and in surrounding relationship to said second disk for defining a second annular flow control passage therebetween, said second annular passage having a width less than said first passage. 